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Why do they hate us? How could they have done this? What were they trying to achieve? Those questions about the terrorist attacks of September 11 still haunt the minds of Americans unnerved by the enormity of the crime. It was a profoundly shocking act of destruction—probably the most shocking thing any of us will ever experience. The two largest buildings in New York, in the heart of the financial district—all gone, with 3,000 deaths. We need to know what could have inspired someone to do such a thing. It is bad enough to experience such a monstrous event; to...

INDIA -- (House of Representatives - June 18, 2002) [Page: H3612] GPO's PDF --- (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to condemn the atrocities committed by Hindu extremists in Gujarat, India , against Muslims and other minority groups. Last week I met with human rights, academic and religious leaders from India who shared reports documenting the designs of the extremist groups against Muslims, Christians, Dalits and others. Trained combatants in Gujarat entered villages and attacked men, women and...

<p>ONCE THERE WAS a little offshore oil platform named Davey the Derrick.</p> <p>Davey was shiny and new and proud.</p> <p>Oil company executives loved Davey because he extracted barrels of oil every day off the California coast.</p> <p>Little children waved at Davey as their parents drove on the Pacific Coast Highway. They listened raptly as their fathers explained that without Davey the family station wagon couldn't run.</p>

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israel called up reserve soldiers Thursday, as troops returned to five West Bank towns in response to two suicide bombings that killed 26 Israelis in two days. Yasser Arafat appealed to Palestinian militias to stop attacking Israeli civilians. In Israel, there were growing divisions over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to gradually seize Palestinian areas and occupy them as long as terror attacks continues. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, leader of the moderate Labor Party, said he strongly opposes long-term reoccupation of Palestinian areas. The back-to-back bombings in Jerusalem prompted President Bush to put his prescription...

<p>Washington -- The Bush administration raised the prospect of a permanent end to oil drilling off the California coast Wednesday as it stepped squarely into a heated political dispute between Gov. Gray Davis and his Republican challenger, Bill Simon.</p> <p>Interior Secretary Gale Norton, in a letter to Simon, reiterated President Bush's support for a moratorium on any new drilling rights off the California coast and applauded Simon's efforts to restrict drilling on existing leases.</p>

(6/19/02, 5 p.m. ET) -- Charlie Daniels recently pulled out of a scheduled appearance on PBS's A Capitol Fourth in Washington, D.C. after one of the songs he wanted to perform was banned from the show's lineup. Daniels wrote "The Last Fallen Hero" as a tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks, and felt it was an especially appropriate holiday to remember those Americans whose lives were taken. The show's producers, however, did not agree, so Daniels canceled his performance. "I'm not on a star trip," Daniels tells LAUNCH. "I'm not being egotistical or petulant. I'm not trying...

Hong Kong lawmakers approve radical government changes HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong lawmakers have approved the most sweeping changes to the territory's government structure since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule. After more than five hours of debate, legislators voted 36 to 21 late on Wednesday to back the creation of a new layer of political appointees who will assume key portfolios, formulate policy and report directly to the territory's chief executive. The appointees will run the civil service, a move observers say will tighten Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's grip on the city. Tung's office said on...

Candles made in Asia are tainted with so much lead that burning them may spread toxic particles throughout the home, according to research reported in next Saturday's New Scientist. Lead is added to the candle wick to stiffen it and give it a more even burn, and it has long been known that toxic particulates may be released into the air around the candle flame. However, researchers at the United States' Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have discovered that burning a leaded-wick candle raises particulates not just near the candle but throughout the house. In a test of eight leaded-wick brands,...

After months of public meetings, and with less than 24 hours to reach a decision, the group that will decide how many Americans receive smallpox vaccine still faces profound uncertainty. Meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices heard almost 12 hours of testimony on a single theme: whether to allow some segment of the public to be vaccinated before any potential bioterror attack begins. But the 15-person group, which makes vaccine policy recommendations to the federal government and is expected to announce a decision today, could not answer a key question underlying every argument pro or...

The only exceptional thing about Cherie Blair's observations on the motives of Palestinian suicide bombers is that anyone should have considered them exceptional. The notion that the pursuit of martyrdom is the consequence of hatred born of despair is one that the vast majority of British people would accept. In its original phase, it was easy to dismiss suicide bombing as the handiwork of a few Islamist fanatics. But the atrocities are now so frequent, and the pool of volunteers so deep, that it has lost all analytical value, save for those who wish to stifle debate. Only a collective...

Over the past twenty months, supporters of Israel have witnessed a consistent escalation of the war against the Jewish people. A war unlike previous wars in the civilized world, it is a deliberate war of terror that specifically targets defenseless women and children, men in wheelchairs, the aged and the infirm, and infants. Tactics range from drive-by shootings to suicide/homicide bombings in shopping malls, pizza parlors, synagogues, children´s play areas and parks where pregnant women and old men congregate, to shooting attacks on women and children asleep in their beds. Massive car bombings carried out by automobiles packed with explosives...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - How much is that dead doggie in the window?Petco Animal Supplies Inc. may not sell dogs in San Francisco, but the city is charging the No. 2 U.S. pet supply store with stocking plenty of other dead, diseased and disfigured animals, ranging from a moldy turtle to a toad that had been boiled to death in its own cage.In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera accused Petco of numerous health and safety violations at its two San Francisco stores and seeks to block the chain from doing business in the city."The...

The U.S. has declared energy cooperation with Russia as one of the main points of a strategic framework the Bush administration is developing with the Kremlin. The May Bush-Putin summit declarations, as well as conversations with government energy officials in Moscow and senior managers of the major Russian oil producers, indicate the beginnings of a major energy-policy trend. The U.S. has begun expanding Russia's role in the global energy markets, and is turning turn the vast Eurasian landmass into one of the major oil suppliers to the U.S. — alongside Mexico, Nigeria, and other non-OPEC producers. These developments will...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - It's the familiar refrain of Grumpy Old Men: Kids these days. No discipline. Got things way too easy. This wasn't a group of retirees lounging around a coffee shop, though. These were five of golf's all-time greats — Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player and Tom Watson, who have 212 PGA Tour victories and 51 majors among them. The targets of their barbed comments: today's PGA players — except Tiger Woods. "I think Tiger's the most disciplined player out there," Nicklaus said Tuesday at a news conference before the Children's Mercy Hospital Golf...

<p>RAMALLAH, West Bank — Yasser Arafat appealed to Palestinian militias Thursday to halt attacks on Israeli civilians after two homicide bombings over two days killed 26 Israelis and prompted Israel to send troops back into five West Bank towns.</p> <p>Israel began calling up reserve troops as part of its military response to a new wave of Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians.</p>

Cal ThomasJune 20, 2002Radical recruiting in America's prisonsThe mail brings a letter from a self-identified African-American prison inmate (several of the same type have arrived since Sept. 11). He predicts Islam will take over the world and America's days are numbered. This man is one of many converts to radical Islam under a program indirectly funded by Saudi Arabian money through the National Islamic Prison Foundation, which underwrites a "prison outreach" program. This program is likely to be discussed at the fifth annual Islam in American Prisons Conference, scheduled for July 5-7 at the Holiday Inn O'Hare International in...

A two-alarm fire caused heavy damage to the Vienna Inn restaurant in Vienna early this morning. Fairfax County firefighter Lieutenant Mark Stone said a police officer was driving by the Maple Avenue building around 3:30 a.m. and spotted smoke coming from the building. Owner Marty LeRoy says there is a lot of clean up and repairs that need to be done but he’s grateful there’s no damage to the dining room or kitchen. The Vienna Inn was established in 1960 and is considered a historical site, but the building dates back farther than that. The cause of the fire is...

WASHINGTON, DC — In what is sure to be a serious blow to young fans and followers of Jesus across the country, the Federal Trade Commission announced a sweeping recall of all Christians baptized between March 1979 and June 1985, fearing many of them may have been accidentally blessed with piss water. "This should really come as no surprise," said Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles. during a press conference Tuesday. "We have an entire generation of young Limp Bizkit-loving, baggy pants-wearing, school-shooting, Ecstasy freaks. We knew something was wrong but not until recently did we know they it...

A few months ago, I met Brad Turrel, a senior CNN executive, at a parlor meeting in North Hollywood, California. After exchanging a few pleasantries, I told him that most Israelis felt that CNN was presenting an anti-Israel bias in its middle-east reporting. He retorted, “ Did you ever pay attention to the material that appears in the Israeli media? Our reporters take these views as representing the Israeli position. We then hear what the Palestinians have to say, and reach the conclusion that the truth is somewhere in between. Get your own media to be more pro-Israeli and CNN...

E-mail sent today...We are pleased to report to you that we have just been informed by the State Board of Elections that North Carolina has won the U.S. Supreme Court case against the state of Utah regarding the 13th congressional seat. Therefore North Carolina officially has 13 congressional districts. We look forward to the November elections for this and many other reasons. Sincerely, Bill Cobey Chairman, North Carolina Republican Party